From a Project Team to a Community of Practice? An Exploration of Boundary and Identity in the Context of Healthcare Collaboration

Abstract

Communities of practice (CoPs) have been used both as a theoretical heuristic to analyse inter-group knowledge-sharing in health care (Ferlie et al., 2005) and as a knowledge mobilization tool enabling learning, innovation and problem-solving within and across healthcare organizations (Ranmuthugala et al., 2011). This chapter aims to enhance our understanding of CoPs by providing an empirical account of an emergent, multiprofessional, knowledge-brokering community which developed from a project team functioning alongside other project teams in a large-scale healthcare partnership. By discussing the practical implications of the team-to-CoP conversion for intra-organizational processes, such as boundary spanning and identity construction, the chapter provides useful insights for those intent on cultivating CoPs within their own organizations to enhance communication, coordination and innovation in patient-centred care. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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